The Ultimate Sacrifice
by Savetheplanet
Summary: A mysterious firebug is running riot around Haven, and when Holly gets in the way of his plans it becomes Root's worst nightmare when, to save her, someone has to make the ultimate sacrifice..
1. Finding Out Fire

**Hi everybody! Wow, this is my third fic! I quite like this story so far actually, so please review and tell me what you think, and merry Christmas! ;)**

It was a dry autumn's evening and Captain Holly Short lay back on her bed in a depressed mood. Life was no fun now that Artemis had been mind-wiped and there were none of his next escapades to look forward to. It didn't help that Commander Root had taken a hissy fit that afternoon when he had found out that she hadn't been keeping up to date with paperwork.

"His outbursts never used to bother me (apart from his obvious sexism of course). I wonder what's changed?"

Holly sniffed the air curiously. What under the earth was that smell? "D'arvit! I bet it's my dinner!" Holly wasn't the best of cooks, but no, as she hurried to the oven she saw that the mushroom burgers _weren't _burning. The smell of smoke was tickling her nose and making her eyes water; as she blinked furiously Holly glanced over to the window where a great wall of red met her rather watery gaze. As soon as she had wiped her eyes Holly could see clearly that noone had obstructed the view from her apartment over uptown Haven by building a giant red-bricked wall, but that the Eleven Wonders apartment building (so named because it had views all the way to the derelict Eleven Wonders Of The World theme park), site of the largest, expensive and most luxurious homes in the whole of Haven was a colossal pillar of fire.

Holly stared and stared at the flames. In a morbid and evil way they were almost beautiful: licking and twirling in a kaleidoscope of black, yellow, orange, and red. Suddenly Holly was shaken from her daydream by the shrill ringing of the phone, she tore herself away to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Holly?" Came Trouble Kelp's voice over the line. "Have you seen it?"

"Yes."

"Well we need you to come in, we're going to need all hands on deck."

"Ok, I'll be right there."

Holly hung up the phone and turned off the oven. Next she hurriedly changed into her LEP suit and rushed out the door. As she jogged to Police Plaza Holly struggled to break free from the crowds which were heading to the scene of the fire with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Round the corner came a LEP shuttle, its siren screeching and blue lights flashing on its roof. The brakes complained loudly as the shuttle came to an undignified halt in front of Holly.

"Which bargain store did you get your driving license at then?" She yelled rudely, but then shut up when Trouble stuck his head out the window.

"It's an emergency, Short." He replied witheringly, but he was only joking. "Get in then." Holly clambered into the shuttle and sat in the passenger seat.

"So what's Root said?" She asked him as they pulled up.

"His phone keeps ringing out." Holly could tell that Trouble was concerned. "Noone has been able to get in touch with him at home yet." Suddenly it dawned on them as they remembered. They stared at each other in horror.

"But, **_that's_** the Commander's home!" Holly gestured to the inferno in front of them.

"Let's go." Trouble had turned a sickly pale colour. The duo jumped out of the shuttle and into the crowds once more, Holly's legs trembling beneath her.

"If anything's happened to Julius…" She thought as she stared at the ground.

A tremendous cheer went through the spectators as two firemen brought a coughing survivor from the building.

"Let me go!" The fiery-faced man was protesting. "I'm perfectly fine!" Trouble and Holly rushed forwards to meet Commander Root –he was cut, a little bruised, and simply _covered_ in ash; but hey! At least he was alive- "Call an emergency meeting at Police Plaza," he ordered. And as Trouble laid a comforting hand on Root's shoulder "get off me!"

Trouble shrugged helplessly at Holly as Root stormed off and returned to the shuttle.

"We can't just leave Root out here, not while he's in this state." Holly thought, she'd never seen Root so upset before and so she scurried after him, through the wake of irritated pedestrians he had left behind him. "Commander?" She called, as the Commander's shadow disappeared down a dark alley. "It's me, Holly!"

"Leave me alone Short!" Came his reply, echoing off the abandoned buildings the lane was lined with. Holly caught up with him and caught his arm, she was shocked at how pale he looked –his eyes glassy and lit up with the light of the fire-

"I'm sorry about your house." The Commander pulled a fungus cigar from his pocket and lit it, inhaling deeply to calm his nerves.

"Stop it Commander! They're disgusting!" Holly plucked the cigar from his grasp and stomped on it, something she'd always wanted to do.

Maybe it was Holly's gesture or something else, but Root straightened up with some of his old fighting spirit displayed on his features. His house had been burned down, so what? Everything he owned was gone, so what? He had **much** more important things to attend to.

"Come on then!" He said to Holly "We can't be standing around here all night!" Holly followed, a small smile playing on her lips, wishing they could.


	2. Crunchball

**Hi! Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, I'm glad that most of you liked the chapter. This is the second chapter (ok, that was a bit obvious ;) ) Please review and tell me what you think, it's interesting to hear what people's opinions are of the story, merry Christmas:) **

As Commander Root stormed into the executive meeting room at Police Plaza a hush went over the waiting officers. Holly hurried to the back and slipped into a chair beside Foaly, who was there too.

"Any news?" She asked him.

"Yes, but I'm not sure that Julius is going to like it," Foaly replied warily.

"Stop talking at the back!" Root ordered. "Unless you have something important to say."

"Well actually I do," Foaly stood up. "I have been informed by Chief Scarlet, the head fireman, that the blaze at the Eleven Wonders Apartments was started deliberately.

A collective gasp went round the room, and Grub Kelp squeaked and fell off his chair.

"Control yourself Corporal!" Commanded Root, as several people laughed. "This is serious. A firebug is on the loose in Haven and we have to be on high alert," he paused. "Corporal Kelp, you've been on prison guard duty lately, take Frond with you and try to get information out of the inmates. _Someone_ must know a person we can investigate." Grub and Lili Frond retreated slowly out of the room, looking decidedly nervous at having to interrogate a bunch of hard-man criminals by themselves.

"Uh, Commander?" Trouble raised his hand. "Will all this 'high alert' stuff affect the Police League Crunchball match tomorrow?"

"No Kelp, the match will go ahead as normal," Root assured him.

"Good thing to, I've been training for weeks," Holly whispered, and the meeting was adjourned.

"Don't forget to be at the pitch early tomorrow," Trouble Kelp reminded his team (he was team captain).

The next afternoon Holly hurried to Haven's only park which was situated in the centre of town. The autumn leaves were dry and crunchy on the park floor. Even though they weren't exactly **real** trees (what plant is going to grow at the centre of the earth?" they still did what normal trees on the surface would do.

"Short!" Trouble yelled. "We thought you weren't coming!"

"Well then you thought wrong!" Holly replied happily. Crunchball was one of her favourite sports and she felt honoured to have been picked to play second Dunker on the team.

Today the Haven Hotshots Police Team were playing the Atlantis Allstars Police Team, an ugly bunch. As the supporters found their seats Holly's stomach churned nervously.

"Stop it!" She told herself. "Everything's great, you've trained lots and eaten breakfast –you're going to be fine." But somehow she couldn't shake her ill feeling, this was a bad sign as fairy intuition is never wrong; then the game began and Holly forgot all about it.

"Hello!" Boomed the announcer, "and welcome to the **last** Police League game of the season, and a very important one it is too, as the Haven Hotshots," the commentator paused as cheers and boos filled the crisp (even if it was recycled) afternoon air. "The Haven Hotshots have won five games, as have the Atlantis Allstars."

"Boo!" Shouted Holly, though she was drowned out by the cheering of the team around her.

"So this game is very tense –now let's go!" The announcer waved at the Referee who was a goblin who must have been pumping iron for at least two hours a day to get muscles that big.

"Let the game commence!" He cackled, and they were off.

Holly pulled down her safety helmet and set off along the track with the bal under her arm, the Throwers from the opposite team chucking paintballs at her all the way, trying to make her drop the ball. Once she neared the middle of the track the Allstar Pouncers started to run side to side to block her way –but she passed them. At the end of the track she threw the ball to Chix Verbil who tried to kick the ball successfully into the net but failed, so Holly threw the ball back down the track over the heads of the Pouncers to Trouble who set off towards her as she ran back. And so the game continued in this way, which was very confusing as their was two Goalies at each end who had to keep the opposite teams goals out, and let their own ones in.

"Whoever made this confusing and pointless game up should be punished," thought Commander Root (quite forgetting that he had once been a Crunchball champion himself) as he watched from the stands and ignored the scary faces that Commander Newt of Atlantis was shooting at him.

"Half time!" Shrieked the referee-goblin, and two thoroughly exhausted and paint-splattered teams collapsed at the sidelines.

"Remind me why I play this," Holly gasped.

"Team!" Trouble geared up for a pep talk. "This isn't good enough!"

"Oh shut up! You sound like Commander Root," Chix Verbil complained, "anyway, have you seen the size of their Goalies, they **must** be half troll, surely!"

"I wish you would stop eying up the Goalies," Holly remarked as Trouble snorted, "and catch the ball! You've missed half my throws!"

"Prepare to play!" Bellowed the Referee. And the banana-sellers who were walking around the stand trying to sell fruit went away.

Holly took up her position once again, the all too familiar churning returning to her stomach.

"Go!" Holly had the ball, she was running, she was nearly at the middle…wait a minute, what was that? Someone had thrown a banana skin onto the track and there was no time for her to stop herself sliding. As she fell Holly grabbed onto the only thing that was there to try to balance herself, a Dunker –who was from the opposite team- as she went down, so did he.

"FOUL!" Screamed all the Allstar supporters in the stands. "CHEAT, CHEAT!"

"Wheet!" Blew the Referee's whistle, as he held up a red card. Holly couldn't believe it! She was being sent off!

"No wait! You don't understand, there was a banana skin…" Holly gestured to the spot where the skin had been but it was gone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a nasty Allstar Shooter shove the banana skin in his pocket.

"You are off!" The goblin yelled to Holly. "Bring on your substitute," he said to Trouble.

"No! Not Frond!"" Trouble buried his head in his hands. In the stands the Allstar supporters howled mercilessly. They had never seen anything so hilarious as Lili Frond try to put on Holly's Dunker helmet without messing up her perfect hair. "You can't send Holly off just for _that_!" He looked at the Dunker who was sprawled theatrically on the track groaning with an evil twinkle in his eye.

"Leave it Trouble," Holly sighed dejectedly, she couldn't bear to watch the remainder of the game and so she wandered slowly back to the changing rooms, which were on the other side of the park (no prizes for the park designer). As Holly got further and further away from the pitch it got quieter and quieter, until Holly was walking through a silent wood.

Suddenly Holly's pointy ears quivered as a branch snapped behind her. As a hacking cough could be heard she demanded "Who's there?" A flick of a match, and then fire. Someone had set the changing rooms alight! It was amazing how quickly the surrounding area went up in smoke as the dry leaves that had been lying there all season curled and turned black in the heat.

When people began to scream and smoke could be smelt the Commander knew that something was wrong. He stood up, all the players had stopped on the pitch and were turned towards

"The changing rooms!" Yelled Chix Verbil, running off.

"Holly!" Trouble followed as Grub slumped to the floor in a dead faint. Root went down to help him, he didn't want to be there when they pulled what was left of Holly from the fire –as he was sure they would-

3 hooded people emerged from the flames and made their way towards Holly. Her field instinct kicked in and she reached for her gun –which of course wasn't there as she was wearing her sports clothes-

"D'arvit!" Cursed Holly. "I ask you to drop your weapons and surrender, I'm the LEP!" She continued nevertheless.

"Hark at her!" Snorted one of the arsonists, in a voice Holly recognized but couldn't quite place.

"I'm the LEP!" Another mocked in a baby voice.

"Oh shut up!" Commanded the tallest, who seemed to be the ringleader, "and seize her! We can't have any witnesses to our little _Bonfire_ now can we?"

"No, no, certainly not," chortled the other two, rushing forward eagerly. As Holly opened her mouth to protest the smallest guy reached up and sprayed something in it. She was out for the count.


	3. A Murder, Maybe

**Hi! I'm sorry for updating sooner, but it was Christmas and all that jazz… but anyway here I am with a new chapter :) I think there's too much speech but please review and tell me what you think. Have a nice day! **

On the pitch Commander Root looked up at the roof. The fluorescent lights were dimmed to make the evening as authentic as possible and clouds of smoke swirled around and choked the air conditioning vents as they tried to make the air pure.

"Commander?" Grub Kelp coughed and sat up from the grass. I've done something awful, I **have** to tell you!"

"Not now," the Commander got up distractedly. "I am going to Police Plaza to sort this situation. Two fires in as many days is preposterous and I'm going to search the culprit out." He strode away purposefully across the dark grass.

"With respect Commander, I don't think that you know who you're up against," Grub called to his receding figure, revealing that maybe _he_ had an idea –vague or definite- of who the arsonists were.

"Exactly. But I intend to find out." Replied Root ominously, leaving the corporal to shiver in front of the empty stands.

Trouble led the mod through the park, it was nearly pitch-black but the fiery glow that the blaze was giving off wasn't exactly hard to miss. In the flickering half light he could see that some of the followers were actually concerned about the fate of Recon's best and only female officer –and others were just looking for a bit of excitement after what had been a mostly uneventful match- As they got nearer it got harder to find some clean air to breathe and bits of scorched leaves blew into their faces.

"I called the fire brigade!" Yelled Chix from the back. Trouble stopped, shocked, in his tracks.

"A lot of good that's going to do now," he whispered. His eyes followed the flames from their root up, up tens of feet the sooty sky and as they licked what was left of the wooden shack all hope (even if it had been tiny) of Holly being alive died inside him, just as he thought Holly had.

Root marched through the streets as quick as his rather podgy legs would carry him. Anything to get away from the fire. Thoughts and voices swirled meaninglessly around his head as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Forget it Trouble." Had been Holly's last words. Her last words, Julius never thought he'd live to say that sentence –he had always imagined her outliving him by at least five hundred years-

"The changing rooms!" What a comedown, the Eleven Wonders Apartments to some scrappy changing rooms in the middle of a suburban park; unless the two incidents weren't related at all. Boy was this confusing.

"Holly!" She was just an officer. Officers get killed all the time, so why then did Holly's 'demise' hit him so badly? Root rushed up the steps of Police Plaza and ran to his office. It felt like the silence was closing in on him so he switched on the TV.

"Oh Frond!" He had been hoping to find refuge from fires in a junky game show or a mediocre soap, he had had enough for one day, maybe even two, but it seemed his wish wasn't going to be fulfilled. On the TV screen a news bulletin was broadcasting and the head fireman Chief Scarlet was being interviewed.

"Has the fire been taken under control yet?" Asked the reporter.

"No, not yet, however one of my crew has very bravely been inside the changing rooms and managed to recover this." Chief Scarlet held out something in his grimy hand, Julius sank back into his desk chair. It was the Recon acorns that he had given to Holly himself. Trouble Kelp pushed his way forward from the crowd onscreen and took the half-melted badge. The Commander had never seen him look so deathly pale and upset.

Julius sat in silence for what seemed like hours, although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes; his world was falling apart and there was nothing that he could do to stop it. Julius had always fancied himself as some kind of superhero, but now he was just an old man who couldn't do anything to turn back time and stop what had happened. Suddenly he heard a sniff coming from the corner of the room. He threw the piles of mission reports that were littering the floor around and uncovered a speaker that was connected to the microphone in the Ops Booth. Who else could be such a workaholic as to be here at this time of day? Someone so paranoid about his job he couldn't bear to leave?

"Foaly." Root marched to the Ops Booth, inside the TV was tuned in to the same news show that that he had been watching. The room was dark so Julius could hardly make out Foaly's hunched form on a chair turned away from the television, as if he didn't watch the set then it wouldn't be real and Holly would walk confidently into the room any minute now.

"You left the microphone on," Root gently switched it off and patted Foaly comfortingly on the shoulder. He didn't know what to say, being nice and supportive to people wasn't normally his area of expertise. "It's ok," he murmured.

"No it's not!" Cried Foaly, his shoulders shaking as tears streamed down his face. He felt silly and embarrassed at the Commander seeing him so upset.

"Yes I know, I didn't know what else to say," admitted Root. Foaly snorted weakly. In the doorway Trouble cleared his throat. He looked pityingly at Foaly although he didn't look much better himself, his face dirty and streaked where sweat and tears had dripped.

"Grub has something he wants to tell you Commander, _don't you Grub?_" He said pointedly.

"Ye…yes," his younger brother stammered.

"Very well," sighed Root, pretending he had nothing better to do.

"Go on then," prompted Trouble and Grub swallowed nervously.

"Um, well, I've been really stupid Commander…"

"Yes?" Root sat down as he realised this was going to take a long time.

"I was on prison duty a few days ago, I've been doing that shift for a few weeks now. I got chatting to one of the prisoners." Grub screwed up his eyes. "You know how I like to take good care of my belongings?" Trouble rolled his eyes. "Well this guy was going on about how what was his got taken away from him…and he convinced me that it would be ok for me to set him and two of his friends free. Er, so I did." Grub covered his eyes shamefully.

"Right," thought Commander Root. "Well, it isn't _so_ bad if they were just petty criminals. Who were they?" He asked. Grub squeaked and ran from the room.

"Turnball Root your brother, and his cronies," Trouble replied for Grub, "sorry sir."

"This day gets better and better," Root complained sarcastically as he massaged his temples tiredly.

"I get it now!" Foaly exclaimed.

"What?"

"Well the apartments and the changing rooms. Revenge! One of the apartments was yours and you were watching the Crunchball match _and_ you used to play!"

"Nasty!" Trouble was rummaging in his pockets. "So it was definitely Turnball then?"

"Absolutely." Root replied, "and I'll tell you something for nothing: he is **not** going to get away with this –noone kills my officer and goes free, especially my brother."

"I thought you might like this sir," Trouble pulled Holly's Recon badge from his pocket and handed it to Commander Root.

"COMMANDER!" Grub Kelp hurtled into the room and slid to a halt. "Your office! Quick!"

"Don't tell me, someone's set my office on fire?" Called Root as he sprinted after Grub down the corridor. "I'm getting good at this." He smirked as he fingered the badge in his hand. "Maybe not."

His eyes widened as he entered the room and saw the TV screen. The news programme was gone and in its place was a crackly black and white transmission.

"Hello Julius." Root glanced worriedly around; he recognized that voice with its smug lacing.

"Yes it's me, your darling brother –and guess who's with me?" The camera turned to show a slim framed fairy swamped in a giant orange boiler suit which kind of matched the person's auburn hair.

"Holly!" At the sound of her name the Holly on the screen stirred and promptly coughed out a pool of blood.

"At least she's alive," commented Trouble optimistically.

"If I was her I'd much rather be dead," Grub remarked as he saw the tight shackles around her thin wrists and ankles.

"Shut it Kelp!" Root snarled. "You are the one that got her in this mess in the first place." Grub lowered his head. Trouble tried to recognize where Holly was being held a prisoner but it was no use, he had never seen the place before and it wasn't like it was anywhere remarkable. Just plain grey walls and a dusty floor.

"I'm going to get you Turnball, just you wait and see!" Seeing Holly lying there so helplessly cut Julius deeply, and his heart ached to give her some kind of comfort.

"Well, you may or may not have noticed this little brother, but I am holding the upper hand. Now you **can** get Ms Short here back –but, you're not going to like it." Turnball stopped to cackle wickedly for a second. "Oh no, you're not going to like it one bit."


	4. A Message

**Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for ages, but my friend asked me to write a story about Green Day so I was kind of busy. Anyway, I'm going to stop making excuses now; please review and tell me what you think, is this chapter too short? Have a nice day:) **

Commander Root found himself wandering the streets for the second time that day, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. The few fairies who had ventured out in the twilight to pound the pavements of Haven's red-light district stared accusingly at him and wondered why he was choosing to exercise rather than catch the criminals who were setting their city on fire. In fact, the Commander didn't know **what** to do. He felt as if he had stumbled on a parallel universe where suddenly everything was different. There was Holly. Completely helpless and weak, tied up in an unknown location; and Trouble and Foaly had suddenly gone all pale and were crying their eyes out. To top it all off, he, the city's youngest ever commander who **always** had a plan which usually worked, had no idea what to do next. He guessed it was just a waiting game. Julius had never been one for playing games but it was the only option he had, although he didn't like it one bit.

There was another reason for his wandering, he didn't have a home anymore. Earlier Foaly had given him the spare key to Holly's apartment as it didn't seem as if she was going to be back to use it any time soon, but Root had no intention of going there –it was almost like he was giving up on his captain- However when it became apparent that the funny looks he was getting weren't because he wasn't doing anything, but because he was giving off a rather unpleasant odour, sighing, Root headed to Holly's home.

He turned the key in the lock gingerly and stepped into the warm kitchen. He felt as if he was snooping –of course, he had never been to the apartment before- It was quite a nice place actually, and there was even nettle smoothies in the cooler (Root's favourite). After slurping the drink he looked in the bathroom, now to do something about that awful pong. Julius lathered on Holly's shower gel in the shower, worryingly faintly about smelling like a girl. Just as he was warming up his vocal chords his pager rang, summoning him to Police Plaza.

"Where is he?" Asked Foaly concernedly as he and Trouble sat in a white van outside a deserted Police Plaza. His stomach was churning, just a few minutes earlier he had received an anonymous phone call summoning them to this exact location. It was definitely dodgy, and he would normally never succumb to orders (hey, he was a centaur, it was his job to be annoying and never listen) but he would do anything to get Holly back. Five minutes later Commander Root arrived puffing and panting. If the message that Foaly had been given hadn't been so serious he would have made a crack at Julius' wobbly beer belly, but this was urgent.

"What is it?" What have you heard? Is Holly ok?" Root clamoured. Trouble and Foaly exchanged an amused look, they had never seen him look so worried and even though it was kind of at Holly's expense they couldn't resist a little smile.

"Someone sent in a message, summoning us here to Police Plaza." Foaly replied.

"Why don't we go in then?" Asked Commander Root, he didn't like not knowing what was going on.

"I'm not sure, this is a bit risky. I don't think we've been called here for nothing Commander. I think this is related to your brother and Holly," reported Trouble, Julius winced as if he couldn't bear to hear evil Turnball's name with Holly's in the same sentence.

"Well we'd definitely better go in then!" exclaimed Root.

"No, let's stay here and assess the situation," Trouble managed to sound superior.

"Fine."

And so they waited and waited although they weren't even sure what for. Trouble and Foaly got the best seats so Root slumped on the floor tiredly, he had never been so exhausted in all his time; he hadn't slept last night on Wing Commander Vinyáyá's cold hard sofa and he certainly couldn't now when Holly's life hung in the balance.

"What did the me-" Commander Root started.

"Shhh!" Trouble whispered. "I think there's someone out there! We have to be inconspicuous."

"Oh yes, we're _really _inconspicuous sitting in the middle of the street in a white van!" Foaly laughed to himself with a smirk on his face which quickly clouded over when he realised that noone was listening and they were all staring out the window. Outside a lone light was shining along the pavement and stopping at intervals.

"Gotcha!" whispered Root triumphantly.

"No! This is difficult, remember what Turnball said: _he's got the upper hand_. We have to be cautious, and so we wait and see what happens," ordered Trouble.

"Since when have you been allowed to boss me around?" Pouted Root rather childishly.

"Since when we won against Turnball?" Replied the major.

"At Holly's initiation."

"Yes, but that was because of Holly –and Turnball's even defeated **her** now-" RING RING!

"Foaly, LEP technician speaking. How may I help you?" Foaly answered the phone as Trouble and Root put their heads in their hands, now –thanks to Foaly- their cover was truly blown.

"Good evening Mr Foaly, _so _glad you could join us," came a crackly voice over the line.

"Turnball!" Root's ears pricked and he snatched the phone.

"Turnball, get Holly back here right now!" ordered Root, this time it was Foaly's time to sigh despairingly.

"In good time, in good time my dear brother." Sniffed Turnball. "Actually Holly's fate is in your hands." At this Commander Root sat up a little straighter. "Yes, that's what I said." Turnball paused. "If you want to save Holly, go get her yourself –she's somewhere in Police Plaza. If you refuse or send someone else…I blow up Police Plaza –Miss Short here included. It's your choice."


	5. Fairy a la Flame

**Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating sooner again but I have been so busy with school and the sequel to the Green Day story. Anyway, I'm going to stop boring you with my stupid excuses and get on with this story. This is the second last chapter, please review and tell me what you think. Have a nice day! -**

"Let me go Commander!" pleaded Trouble. "I'll save Holly," he added, trying to sound like the Mud-man hero Superman.

"No! Send in my new invention! I've been working on a clone –even better than Opal Koboi's (well she wasn't exactly hard to beat, even if I do say so myself)- of you, Turnball won't know the difference," argued Foaly.

"Me!"

"Clone!"

"Me!"

"Clone!"

"QUIET!" There was silence in the van. "I'm going myself to get Holly. I am her commander after all."

"But, what if you get killed?" Asked Trouble.

"Are you trying to tell me something Kelp?" A frown appeared on Commander Root's forehead.

"Time is ticking," came Turnball's voice sweetly from the phone, which Foaly hadn't turned off. "I _do_ hope I'm not causing you stress Julius."

"Stress? Don't know the meaning of the word!" a large vein was pulsing on the Commander's head.

"Well you always were that bit dumber than me," Turnball remarked.

"I'll get you Turnball!" bellowed Root.

"Tick tock tick tock!" laughed his brother.

"Switch that bloomin' phone off!" Foaly cut the connection.

"Right," Commander Root stood up rather creakily. "I am saving Holly! For the victory of good against evil, to get my officer back, to prove I've still got some fighting spirit, in the name of Frond-"

"In the name of Frond will you cut the crap!" Trouble shoved Root out the door and into the dark street.

Turnball's accomplices had somehow managed to switch off all the lights over the road and so Commander Root stumbled along, tripping over fuses and breathing in what smelled suspiciously like dynamite fumes.

"I'm fine, I'm Commander Root of the LEP and they don't call me that for nothing! I have my tri-barrelled water-cooled blaster," here he reached to his gun holster reassuringly. "D'oh! Well, maybe I don't have my gun but I have my status! Although I don't know what good that's going to do now," he said rather sadly as he though about his city being burned beneath him by his own brother. Police Plaza was all in darkness, all lights off and windows closed except for one on the fifth floor which creaked rather ominously as the Commander stepped inside the unlocked main door.

He had walked this corridor every morning for the past few hundred years but somehow it managed to seem very spooky as Root hurried along in the near-black; he knew that time was running out –but he didn't want to go any faster incase his heart packed in (let's face it, what use would he be then?) Now if he were Turnball, where would he hide his captive? What had his brother always wanted more than anything else? Power! And what was the most powerful place in the building? The commander's office!

"Come on Julius! You're running out of time!" bellowed Turnball over the tannoy.

"Oh God!" thought Root. "I'm never going to make it! **_We're_** never going to make it!" he didn't know when he had started to think of Holly and himself as 'we' but it sounded good. It seemed as if there had never been so many stairs to his room and it wasn't the first time that Julius wished the council weren't so stingy with their gold and had installed a lift. He hurtled up the steps – although maybe it was too late…?

Holly closed her eyes and leant her head against the wall in agony. Never had she given up before, so this was definitely a first (or a last, whatever you want to call it). So far her wrists had been burnt, her neck scratched with a piece of rope, and she was feeling pretty woozy with all the drugs they had been administering to keep her sedated. Noone was coming for her, she was going to die here.

Root's breath came in short gasps and his heart was pounding against his rib cage. He was dreading opening the door and finding…well, he wasn't sure what –but there was only one way to find out. He pushed the door, expecting a fight, but was surprised to find that it was unlocked (now that wasn't like Turnball). It was very dark and shadowy inside so he switched on the light. Had his prediction been wrong? Was Holly not here? The only thing was a pile of rags lying crumpled under the desk, when it moved he knew that it was Holly after all but couldn't decide if this was a good or bad thing because she looked so battered.

"Oh Gods Holly, what have they done to you?" He asked, expecting her to answer in her usual strong voice, but getting no reply. She looked so helpless; lying in a pool of scarlet blood with her face scarred and scratched even though she'd only been gone a couple of hours –although in Root's mind it seemed like longer- Julius felt so guilty at not getting here sooner and he just wanted to pick her up and hold her, which was what he did. Her head lolled against his chest, like she was coming home, but Root knew this thought was impossible.

He strode purposefully across the room once again this time to _open_ the door, but he struggled. It was locked! There was no doubt about it.

"10 seconds left!" informed his mean brother, Julius could pick out the venom in his voice even over the tannoy. He couldn't believe it, he knew his sibling was nasty…but taking an innocent (and beautiful) girl's life into the equation as well? It was just plain evil. What was he going to do? He had to save Holly at least, and yet he had so few options. 9 seconds, 8 seconds, time was running out. In a flash of inspiration Root practically flew over to the window, the only other exit, he hoped that Holly would forgive him later (if they lived to forgive) and threw her gently out, where she soared downwards like an oversized bird. Now it was his turn, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, Root was sure he had enough time to escape -even if it was maybe in a body bag- …but someone above couldn't count. On 2 an explosion rocked Police Plaza, blowing the glass inwards from the windows and into Root's face. The walls crumbled and a fire began to ravage down the corridor. Julius crumbled to the ground. For the second time that day, someone in the room had given up.

Holly's lifeless body twirled to the ground to meet a certain squash on the concrete street below. Maybe if she had been conscious she would have screamed for help; as it was, it was lucky that someone was standing underneath…

Trouble hid in the shadow of Police Plaza, searching the area for criminals; even if he couldn't be inside with the action he could still make a few arrests. Suddenly he heard something approaching from above and so he drew his gun…wait a minute! It was Holly! At least, he thought it was, the thing's features were so pummelled it was hard to make out in the darkness. Nevertheless, whoever it was obviously couldn't help themselves and so Trouble reached out to catch them deftly. Now that was a rescue that would please everyone even more than a **dozen** captured criminals.

At that moment Police Plaza lit up with the light of a dynamite explosion and Trouble and Holly were thrown to the ground.

"Julius!" the noise had obviously brought Holly back to consciousness as she emerged coughing from a pile of rubble completely coated with dust. She struggled from the bricks, covering her eyes from the glare of the now familiar sight of flames.

"Holly! You ok?" Trouble rushed to her side and Foaly popped his head out of the van across the street where he was cowering.

"Commander! Julius! We have to get him out!"

"Em…no way! I think we'll wait for the fire brigade thank you," replied Trouble rather fearfully (but trying not to show it.)

"Well if you're not coming I'll go by myself!" she started to run towards the blaze but Trouble caught her by the red-raw wrist and it hurt her too much to break free. "We can't just stand here!" tears streamed down Holly's face and she clung desperately to Trouble as if trying to seek comfort in a harsh and volatile world. And as she watched Police Plaza act as a crematorium for Commander Root, Trouble caught something in her eyes that had always been there but never obvious until now: mourning for someone she loved and was now losing as the seconds and minutes ticked by.


	6. A Phonecall

**Ok, I am really embarrassed here, but I haven't updated for ages so here is what I've written –and I promise I'll update more as soon as I've finished writing it- It's way short, but I guess it's better than nothing. Please review and tell me what you think, have a nice day -**

Trouble didn't know what to say, it was all so surreal. He sat in the darkness on a chair at Holly's apartment and tried to come to terms with the fact that the Commander was gone, just as Holly was trying to do –only she wasn't as successful at controlling her emotions as he was-, a sea of soggy tissues covered the floor. Through the silence came the sound of the phone ringing. Trouble moved to pick it up, anything to break the quiet.

"Trouble Kelp speaking?"

"You are **never **going to believe this!" Trouble covered his ears as Foaly bellowed down the line.

"What?" he replied grouchily.

"Guess!" for someone whose commander had just been cremated at his workplace Foaly didn't sound all that upset, but then, Julius had always annoyed the centaur.

"All the carrots in the world have been infected by a deadly virus? There's a two for one offer on hoof moisturiser down at the pharmacy?"

"There isn't a deadly carrot virus is there?" questioned Foaly worriedly.

"No!" Trouble drummed his fingers impatiently on the table and waited for Foaly to get to the point.

"Commander Root is alive!" Well, just because Trouble was being sarcastic it didn't mean that Foaly had to joke around, especially with such a sore subject and all.

"Dude, it's October! April Fool's Day isn't for another…" Trouble counted on his fingers, "5 months!"

"I wasn't joking!" Foaly sounded sincere and hurt.

"You, you mean…_Commander Root **IS** alive_?" squeaked Trouble. Holly looked up as if daring Trouble to tell her otherwise now that a faint glimmer of hope had been flung her way.

"Well duh, that's what I said."


	7. Five Small Words

**Hi, sorry it's been such a long time, I've had _so_ much on my mind lately, but you probably don't want to hear my excuses. This is the last chapter and I hope you like it since it's taken me so long to write! I don't want this to sound like a speech but thank you very much to everyone who's reviewed this story: _Aryelweb, phoenixmaster5, Mulch Diggums, madisonavenue, Dim Aldebaran, Stiggy, waffles to you, xXxBillieJoeIsGodXxX (heehee Rachel), Firefly-class, LunarSquirrel, Trouble Kelp, sergeantstan, Furubafan92, and sderai. _It means a lot to know that people read my fics and like them too. **

**Also thank you to Bethany, Jessica, Vicki, and Sophie. I never realised how good my friends were until I really needed them, and I hope that this comes across in this chapter for Holly. Thanks Sophie for thinking up the last bit as well and stuff them haha!**

**Please review and tell me what you think, and once again I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I hope to be back soon with a new fic (I'm not sure what yet though!) Have a nice day ;)**

Holly ran from the room, wincing with every step as she hurried into her bedroom and opened the closet.

"Hello? Trouble, you still there?" Foaly said as Trouble gazed after Holly open mouthed.

"Yeah, it's just that Holly has chosen a rather random time to check for closet monsters." There was silence on the line as Foaly ignored that last comment and moved onto what was really pressing him.

"It's just that, well…" Trouble realised that maybe sometimes the centaur **did** manage to pick up on others emotions. "I'm not sure Julius is going to hang on much longer and if Holly wants to say goodbye to him…" Foaly trailed off but Trouble got the message.

"Holly?" he called. "Do you want to go to the hospital?" he threw the phone on the floor where it rested amongst the tissues.

"What do you think suits me better? Green or black?" What? Trouble went to check if Holly's brain had somehow been removed from her head by the fall, and was astounded to find her standing in front of the mirror with a dress in each hand.

"What under the earth are you doing?" he demanded. Holly's eyes filled with tears.

"Well," she sniffed. "I just thought that the last time Julius sees me I should look nice for once in my life." Trouble understood, he wanted to say that the commander probably thought she looked stunning whatever she wore, but he didn't and pointed at the green dress instead. "And, Trouble? Do you know how to apply mascara?"

"I'm sure that Commander Root will be pleased with just the dress, you don't need to put on makeup." Trouble glanced at his watch as he knew that Root couldn't cling to life by a thread just so that Holly's makeup could get its first airing.

"But if I look nice, I've got to look nice _properly_," replied Holly.

"Fine." Trouble picked up a bottle of nail polish. "But as far as everyone at Police Plaza is concerned I've never even been **near** your makeup bag, alright?"

When a sprite who was leaning on the drinks machine wolf-whistled, Foaly looked up expecting to see a stunningly beautiful fairy enter the hospital waiting room –but coming face to face with Holly instead- That's not to say she wasn't stunningly beautiful, but Foaly was confused as to why Holly had gotten all dressed up for what was to effectively be a pre-death funeral.

"Don't ask," whispered Trouble as Foaly led the way to wherever Commander Root was and Holly tottered behind in her stilettos. The centaur stopped outside a room with the blinds closed; Trouble wandered why this was but he didn't really want to know especially if the reason was gruesome.

"Are you going in then?" Foaly said in a hushed voice like he was in a church. Holly looked as if she wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction as fast as her heels would carry her but before she could move the door to Commander Root's room swung open and two important looking doctors emerged pushing a trolley with a body covered by a sheet on it.

"Oh my Frond!" Yelped Trouble.

"Oh, my Julius!" Holly cried.

"You told me he was in critical but stable condition!" Foaly complained violently. The doctor looked at Foaly as if he was a particularly annoying bug on the floor.

"And he is," he replied crossly. "So critical in fact, that he needs to have facial reconstruction surgery to stop the lose of blood. That's why our patient here has a sheet over his face –we don't want him to scare everyone now do we?" the doctor sniffed snootily and then they pushed the trolley away down the corridor and out of sight.

Holly covered her face with her hands and Trouble put a comforting arm round her shoulders which she shrugged off.

"I'm ok. I'll be fine," she told him.

"Yeah," Foaly tried to make a joke. "Don't cover your face Holly, at least you've still got one!"

It wasn't funny. Holly turned her back on him and began to pick the nail polish off her nails worriedly; Trouble winced with every speck that fell to the shiny floor as he remembered how he had painstakingly applied it only an hour before. They walked arm in arm back to the waiting room where Foaly bought them some rather unpleasant tea from the vending machine, Holly didn't drink it, she hated tea and would much rather have had a nettle smoothie, so she swirled it around the polystyrene cup as the hours ticked by slowly. A goblin behind them was having a very interesting conversation on his phone.

"Yes, that's what I heard too. It was completely blown up, haha! I'd have liked to see those police faces when they brought the dead bodies out." The goblin cackled victoriously.

It was much later when Holly finally plucked up the courage to ask at the reception desk if the Commander had come out of theatre yet.

"I…I was just wondering, if-"

"If your boyfriend has come out of theatre yet?" smiled the receptionist knowingly.

"What! No!"

"Well what do you want then?" she replied.

"No! I mean, yes! He's not my boyfriend, but has he come out of theatre yet?" Holly explained.

The receptionist nodded and suddenly Holly understood. It seemed that Foaly had managed to tell the whole waiting room about Holly's problems when he had been waiting for her to arrive. As the receptionist pointed up the stairs Holly followed her gesture with blushing cheeks. She looked back at Trouble and Foaly who were dozing sleepily and set her mind to the fact that her final farewell to the commander was something she was going to have to do all by herself. Holly climbed the stairs like she was walking to her fate; she was going to be so embarrassed if he was awake when she told him what she was going to, and if he wasn't and his face was all mangled and burnt she couldn't run away and not confront him, otherwise she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Holly swallowed, and entered the room.

It was dark inside, all of the blinds were drawn and the lights were dimmed. The machines all around the bed on which Julius was lying stiffly made menacing beeping sounds though Holly knew that they were only helping the commander. Maybe it was a good thing that she couldn't see Root's face; because if his face had been disfigured by the blast at Police Plaza Holly wasn't sure if she would forgive herself, and for another thing not seeing his eyes made her more confident and she started on what she was going to say.

"It's Holly here Commander, I'm not sure if you can hear me. I don't know what your condition is –Foaly didn't tell me. I don't know if that was because he didn't know or because he didn't want to upset me- but I have to tell you something." Holly paused, Julius hadn't moved. She pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm so grateful for what you did for me back there in the Plaza Commander. Thank you so much," her voice trembled a little as she remembered watching Police Plaza burn to the ground with Root still inside. "You didn't need to do that for me, after all, I'm just a lowly captain who doesn't always get it right or obey the rules. If you died Julius, it would be so awful; _please_ hang in there -everyone at Police Plaza needs you, we can't manage without you you know- I know I sound ungrateful and maybe I am after all they've done for me, but Trouble and Foaly's friendship is nothing compared to how I value yours." She struggled, trying to form the right words but not managing. Tears poured down her cheeks and they fell harder when Root lay lifelessly on the bed, not getting up and ordering Holly to pull herself together like she wanted him to. "Ohhh," Holly wailed. Tears dripped everywhere, on the floor, on her dress and even on the bed. She couldn't say it. She'd got this far and yet she couldn't bring herself to voice five small words that seemed so easy in her head but were devilishly hard to say out loud. Never before had her mood been so black and the world around her seemed very grey.

The giant tears continued falling as if they would never stop, Holly knew she had no other choice. Foaly and Trouble had been so considerate and kind taking her here, and if she didn't admit her true feelings then she wouldn't just have let herself down, but she'd have let them down too. Those feelings tore her insides apart every aching moment and if embarrassing herself forever was the consequence of stopping her pain then so be it.

"Julius," Holly stopped. "I think I love you." And that was it. No fanfare of trumpets, embaressment, or even a reply. Commander Root still lay on the bed not moving a muscle. "Sleep tight sir. I'll never forget you."

When morning came Trouble found Holly asleep, clinging to Julius' body like a limpet. He gently led her away, she came obediently as if she didn't want to fight anymore –but Trouble knew that she would be ok- Her face was strangely at peace just as Commander Root now was. As they walked away from hospital Foaly hoped that Julius was watching over them (although it was kind of an invasion of privacy), and if he wasn't, there was one place he would always be, and that was in Holly's heart.


End file.
